The Sacred Mountain, The Mess & Spider Web Splat

It's been a long time (too long) since I've blogged. Dalen's book The Mess has been released! 3 copies of it (print on demand) arrived on October 24, 2011. Dalen had 5 copies printed so Checker Distributors could introduce it at International Quilt Market in Houston, TX, this month.  On October 28, the entire order arrived! We received our first snowfall of the season that night! This is interesting because Dalen also released a tween Christian fiction novel this year called The Sacred Mountain. It arrived the day of the earthquake on the East Coast, August 23, 2011. It has become a running joke that major things happen on the day his books arrive! I have to admit these two were very interesting & will always be remembered by us. These books can be found on Dalen's website, http://www.dalenkeys.com/. I designed a quilt pattern to go with The Mess called Spider Web Splat. It is also listed on his website. In the book, Tiffany says Mommy's quilt blocks look like "friendly" spiders.

Quilt to go with Dalen's new book, The Mess

Dalen has been working very hard on his sequel to Just a Quilt? This book is called The Mess. I have been working on a quilt pattern to go with it. Dalen has given valuable input into the pattern, too. Yesterday, we spent a good part of July 4th, near Lancaster, PA, (one of my favorite places on earth) at a fabric store called Burkholder's Fabrics. Here is a link to their site. www.burkholderfabrics.com. We purchased fabric for the sample quilt & I'm also going to make it in Halloween fabrics, too. Even though Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays, this pattern really lends itself to be done in Halloween fabrics. I thought to take pictures of the Halloween fabrics before I washed them, but I forgot to do that with the fabrics I'm using for the main quilt.

I'm excited to see how the quilt turns out. I have tentatively titled it, Spider Web Splat. I don't know why I like that name. Stay turned to see how it turns out. Probably won't post pictures till the quilt is done.

Current Project I want to start

I shouldn't try to multi-task while trying to blog. I hit enter before I ever wrote anything on here. Today, I pulled all the "food fabrics" off my shelves & out of a drawer I had been storing them in. There are 2 quilts that I want to use these fabrics for. One of the patterns is called Only A Few Hours by The Olde Green Cupboard. They can be found at http://www.oldegreencupboard.com/home.html. I saw this pattern made up at our local quilt shop & loved it. I started collecting fabrics for it, along with my niece Kelly, who also loved the pattern.

The other pattern is from a quilt I saw at a quilt show we vended at. I will ask permission to post anything about it before putting it on here. I think the designer did a fabulous job of designing her pattern.

Currently, the fabrics are in the washing machine for a quick wash. I can't wait to get started on these quilts.

Time Always Gets Away From Me

I just checked my blog & saw how I was going to "be better about blogging". Obviously, that didn't happen. Sorry. I just get so busy living life that I don't think about blogging a lot. I do try to journal every day though.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year everybody. Today is 1/1/11. That is so cool to write. Hope everyone has a healthy, prosperous new year. One of my goals is to be better about blogging this year. I am thankful for God's blessings on our lives. Thankful for family & friends. I am blessed to have each & every one of you in my life.

I mentioned "The Diaper Bag" I made for our first grandchild, but I never got the photos uploaded. I am not a pro at this by any means, but I thought I'd give it another try today. It worked! I am so excited to finally share the photos with you. It was time-consuming, but we've received several compliments on it. Actually, I want to make more of them. It has held up very well. I wanted to add a link to the pattern I used by The Creative Thimble. www.thecreativethimble.com. I highly recommend this pattern. It's not just a diaper bag. It's a Professional Tote. Thank you to The Creative Thimble for designing such a wonderful pattern & great, detailed instructions.

2 New Firsts

Today we attended the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival. It was our granddaughter Scout's 1st parade to see & our son Chase's 1st parade to march in with the high school band. It was a great time. We walked around the Festival afterwards. It sprinkled rain off & on. Scout was singing on my shoulder as we headed back to our cars. When we got home, I told her it was like she was "Singin' in the Rain!" and I sung that song to her. She loves music & she just grinned as I sung to her (I'm sure that will change as she gets older!) Scout & I are going to have to watch some musicals on our days together.